Insulating material for lining and other uses



Sept. 29, 1936. P. M. J. BARDou-JoB ET AL 2,055,691

INSULATING MATERIAL FOR LINING AND OTHER USES Filed Abril s, 1934 WM ma.

Patented Sept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INSULATING MATERIAL FOR LINING AND OTHER USES Application April 6, 1934, Serial No. 719,258 In France June 9, 1933 4 Claims. (Cl. 106-23) Our invention relates to the manufacture of insulating material adapted to be used for lining and other uses.

The object of this invention is in particular actuated by a drive 3.

When the maximum temperature comprised between 110 and C. has been reached, the

container l is provided with a rotary agitator 2 to manufacture an insulating material which is sulphur in the form of flowers of sulphur or 5 very homogeneous and has a very high insulating powdered sulphur is sprayed upon the granules p ywhile continuing to agitate the mass. In this The invention consists primarily in an insuway, the particles of sulphur melt in contact lating material characterized by the mixture of with the granules of hot cork and thus adhere cork and sulphur. to these granules. 10

In one embodiment of the invention, the sul- The damper 4 which closes the base of the conphur is applied in the state of flowers of sulphur tainer I is then opened in order to allow the or finely pulverized sulphur. mixture to flow into a mould 5. This discharging The insulating material described above comoperation should be eiiected as rapidly as posprises two materials only, cork and sulphur. sible so that the mixture will not have time to 15 Other materials may however be added to these cool. Immediately after the mixture has been substances without on that account going outrun out, it is placed under a press the applied side the scope of the invention. pressure varying according to the purpose of the For example, a certain quantity of ammonium material to be obtained. salts or ammonium and magnesium salts may The material is removed from the mould a few 20 be added. This addition has the advantage of minutes later when the temperature has fallen making the insulating material fire resisting. a few degrees. This process has the advantage Colouring matters may also be added to the that it only requires a fairly low temperature mixture, such as ochres and sienna earths where- (110 to 120 C.). It is therefore very economiby insulating materials of different colours can cal and the saving is increased on account of 25 be obtained. the fact that the temperature is applied to the When it is desired to improve the qualities materials during a short time only. of the insulating material, such as the flexibility The invention includes the insulating material and firmness, solid or liquid products are added thus obtained whatever he the proportion of cork to the mixture, e. g. rubber, boiled or raw linseed and sulphur, but it also includes a particularly 30 oil, latex, etc.; the insulating material obtained advantageous insulating material containing the is then easy of application on account of its following proportion of sulphur and cork: flexibility.

.The insulating material according to this in Cork By weiglit vention further comprises the characteristic feas 1 i 1/ '35 tures which will appear from the following deu p ur 5 scription and more particularly from the ap- This insulating material has numerous adpended claims. vantages.

The preferred forms of the apparatus for the In the first place its colour closely resembles manufacture of the insulating material accordthat of natural cork and this is due to the low 4 ing to the present invention are illustrated in temperature required by the process and furthe accompanying drawing in which Figures 1 ther by the relatively low proportion of sulphur, and 2 are two axial sections of two pieces of apwhich material has a light colour approaching paratus according to the invention. that of cork. This colour may also when re- The insulating material according to this inquired be modified by the addition of colouring vention is composed essentially of a mixture of materials as mentioned above. fragments of cork and sulphur, the latter being The insulating material is completely insoluadvantageously applied in the state of flowers ble in water. of sulphur or finely pulverized sulphur. As it is formed of two highly insulating mate- In order to obtain such an insulating material, rials, the insulating material is a perfect insu- 50 the cork granules are placed in a container l lator. It can thus be used advantageously as in- (Figure 1) heated externally by means of steam ternal linings for modern houses, for which purfor example. In order to obtain as rapidly as pose it is still more suitable on account of the possible a temperature which is uniformly disfact that it is sound absorbing in addition to betributed throughout the mass of granules, the ing insulating. 66

A further very interesting advantage of this insulating material resides in the fact that it is not attacked by parasites, such as vegetable parasites. It will be understood that under these conditions this insulating material can be of great service in industry and particularly in modern constructions, for the insulation of refrigerators, for conduits, etc.

Finally, this insulating material has a low specific gravity and on this account imposesonly a very small load on constructions on which it is employed.

Numerous modifications mayibe *made in; the above described process for the manufactureof the insulating material Without on that account going outside the scope of the invention.

Thus, instead of the flowers-of sulphur .being sprayed upon the previously heated cork granules, the latter may be coated in the cold state with the fiowers of sulphur and the mixturethus obtained. in .the cold statemay then be subjected to the action of heat. .This operation may be-1 carried out in a .similar apparatus to that described:above,-butnevertheless this mode of procedure givesslightly less satisfactory results than that previouslydescribed, because it is fairly...diificult.- to obtain a homogeneous mixture in :the-coldstate.

'Fhe insulatingmaterial may v also beobtained by the immersing and mixing of the cork granules .in a massof: moltensulphur. or inversely and this operation may-be effected, like the foregoing, in the 1 apparatus described above.

The insulating material according to this inventionJnay alsovbe obtained by proceeding in {the following manner with the aid of the device illustrated Figure-2.

rThecork granules are placed in the container I, these granules being previously mixedwith the =flowers-of--sulphur. =A.current of steam-is then supplied. to this mixture through a pipe 6 which (dips-into the-mixture.

In thiswaya certain quantity of water is incorporated in .the mixture, thereby facilitating =the.coating of the.cork-granules-with-sulphur in ;the .coldstate.

The operationis. continued as described above :by'the container I being heated externally and -by.-the mixture-being agitated by means of the agitator 2.

-:When..the..operation has been-completed, the mixture is-runoif as described-above by the opening of the damper 4 and this mixture is collected in a mould 5, the discharging operation being effected *asrapidly-aspossible.

It--is to be noted that the "steam-supplied into the mixture-lat thecommencement of the operation commences to heat the mass so that the :mixture-isalready. at a certain-temperature when :heat is applied to the container l. The supple- .mentary operation .which consists in moistening with sulphur While the mixture is still cold.

lsItsis-.also:observed.that the supply-of steam to the mixture heats the mass directly :while the -pletely cold state without any addition of heat.

It has been specified above that the mixture ofcork andsulphur was heated before moulding. According to one of the features of the present inventiontheheat. may be supplied to the mixture .at the moment of -.moulding. In this case the granules of cork are coated with sulphur in the cold-state, the mass is moistened, if necessary, and the mixture is then introduced into the mould. The mixture is then subjected to a certain pressureand is then heated to a temperature comprised between 110 and 120 C. The particles of sulphur m'elt under the action of the heat and adhere.to the cork granules.

vThis.modesofoperation-has the following advantage:

Thepressure is applied to the mixture at the moment whenrthetemperature corresponds to a maximum viscosity of the sulphur. In this way,

the sulphur fills the voids between the cork gran- .ules. inthe -.most completepossible manner so that-.amaterial-is finally obtained which is very homogeneous and very compact.

. Finally,.according to the invention, an insulating material. is obtainedawhich possesses the following properties:

1.. Excellentinsulation against cold. 2,; Excellent insulation against heat.

3. A better electrical installation than other insulating material.

4. Effective resistance to parasites and gnawing on account of. the presence of the sulphur.

5. Sanitary'materialswhich are freed from in. finitelylsmall germsby the-liberation of sulphur dioxide during the heat treatment.

6. Very'low infiammability. -7. 'Very good. cohesion. -What we claim is:--

1. Insulating material for linings and other .uses, comprising granulated cork,.a binder consisting essentially of sulphur, and rubber.

'2. Insulating material for linings and other uses-comprisinggranulated cork, a binder consisting essentially of sulphur, and latex.

3. -A. process for the :manufacture of an agglomerate comprising granulated cork and sulphuras the essential binder for the cork granules, which comprises heating the cork granules to a temperature sufficient to melt the sulphur, and .sprayingthe: sulphurin the form of powder on the heated granules, thereby to cause the sulphur tomelt-and adhere to the granules and the granules to adhere to each other.

4. A process for the manufacture of an agglomerate comprising granulatedcork and sulphur. as the essential binder for the cork granules, which comprisespouring molten sulphur on .a body of the loose cork granules-while stirring the mass.

.-PIERRE MICHEL JUSTIN BARDOU-J OB. 'HENRI FRANCIS'. IIIE IBRARD. 

